Senior Lead Operational Risk Specialist

Equifax • Saint Louis, MO

3d

About The Position

The Senior Lead Operational Risk Specialist acts as a functional expert and informal leader driving operational stability across EWS Operations. The role establishes and operationalizes a management system aligned with enterprise risk frameworks, makes authoritative decisions in nonstandard situations, and forecasts and plans resources for major risk and resilience initiatives. It collaborates across Operations, Technology, Product, DevOps, and Compliance to evaluate high-impact risk scenarios and guide complex problem-solving. Through technical direction and informal mentorship, the specialist helps implement automated controls, optimize resource planning, and maintain operational continuity and system availability.

The role shapes operational risk strategy and governance, builds automated key risk indicator reporting, plans resilience initiatives, conducts Business Impact Analyses, establishes RTO/RPO standards, and runs crisis simulations. It leads responses to nonstandard security events, post-incident investigations and root-cause remediation, and operational risk evaluations for modernization and migration projects. It also manages third-party operational risk, advises on control design, serves as a subject-matter authority and mentor, and liaises with internal audit and regulatory compliance.

Requirements

• 7+ years of progressive experience in Operational Risk Management, Technology Risk, IT Audit, or Operational Resilience within complex, cloud-enabled technology enterprise environments.
• Bachelor’s degree.
• Track record of providing informal leadership while building or scaling risk frameworks, control environments, or BCDR programs in complex technology or operational settings.
• Deep functional understanding of cloud environments, system dependency mapping, and technology change management processes.
• Demonstrated critical thinking and decision-making in nonstandard situations, translating complex operational incidents into root-cause remediation plans and executive insights.
• Experience forecasting and planning resources for large-scale risk initiatives while influencing cross-functional engineering and operations teams without direct line authority.

Nice To Haves

• Relentlessly drives root-cause remediation and advocates for proactive safeguards.
• Track record of moving an organization from reactive incident response toward automated, data-driven risk management.
• Understanding of the intersection of technology evolution, operational continuity, regulatory compliance, and business performance.
• Credentials such as CRISC, CISA, CBCP, or ISO 31000/27001 Lead Implementer.
• Challenges legacy controls that slow delivery and advocates for sharper, automated measures of risk and resilience.
• Experience operating across distributed international teams.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and operationalize EWS Operations’ risk framework, risk appetite statements, and RCSA processes in alignment with business objectives.
• Analyze complex risk data and construct automated key risk indicator (KRI) reporting systems that provide executive visibility into operational exposures.
• Forecast and plan resource requirements for resilience initiatives; conduct Business Impact Analyses, establish RTO/RPO standards, and run crisis simulations.
• Make critical operational and risk decisions during nonstandard security events and coordinate cross-functional responses to protect operational impact and customer deliverables.
• Lead post-event investigations of major incidents, identify root causes, and establish sustainable control enhancements.
• Integrate operational risk evaluations into legacy system rationalization and migration projects, and guide engineering groups through technical transitions.
• Analyze and mitigate operational risks from vendor integrations, API dependencies, and external platforms; establish protocols for nonstandard partner scenarios.
• Partner with engineering, DevOps, and platform teams to design automated controls and provide technical guidance that supports system stability without creating workflow bottlenecks.
• Resolve complex, nonstandard operational risk issues, mentor junior staff, and determine escalation pathways for critical enterprise risks.
• Serve as a technical liaison for internal audit and regulatory compliance.
• Influence cross-functional engineering and operations teams without direct line authority.

Benefits

• Comprehensive compensation and healthcare packages
• 401k matching
• Paid time off
• Organizational growth potential through an online learning platform with guided career tracks

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior